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Murder suspect has criminal past, records show

By Marisa Donelan, mdonelan@sentinelandenterprise.com

Updated:
10/28/2009 10:05:37 AM EDT

LEOMINSTER -- The Hudson man charged Monday in the August death of a Leominster man has a history of criminal charges in Leominster, including an active cocaine-trafficking case in superior court, according to court documents.

Ryan M. Hehir, 22, is being held without bail on a charge of murder, after police alleged he fought with Hector L. Rivera, 32, on Aug. 26, causing a traumatic brain injury and Rivera's death on Sept. 24.

"Hehir was indicted and arraigned in Worcester Superior Court on the charge of trafficking in cocaine, (which is) 28 to 100 grams," said Timothy Connolly, spokesman for the Worcester District Attorney's office. "It has been continued to Nov. 2 for a motion hearing."

Hehir allegedly fought with Rivera outside Forty's Bar on Central Street after the two had a verbal altercation, and Rivera never regained consciousness after the fight, spending a month in a coma at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester before his death, according to police reports.

State police allege Hehir told his former girlfriend he'd "knocked out" a man in a fight that night, and had allegedly brought her Rivera's Red Sox cap to give to her son, according to reports.

Hehir, who was arraigned Monday on the murder charge in relation to Rivera's death, has cases through Leominster District Court dating back to 2004, when he was 17, with charges including assaults and larceny.

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A public-records request made Monday to the state's Criminal History Systems Board for Hehir's criminal record has not yet been answered.

Attorney Michael Hussey of the Worcester public defender's office, who is representing Hehir, on Tuesday declined to comment on Hehir's history or on the current charges his client faces.

Members of the North Worcester County Drug Task Force in May 2008 arrested Hehir and Frederick Hardy, 20, of Fitchburg, and Leominster Detective Joseph L. Siciliano Jr. wrote in a report that Hehir has "a history of assault and battery (charges) and weapons violations."

During the drug arrest, Siciliano reported Hardy was allegedly carrying 60 grams of cocaine, and Hehir, who was unemployed at the time, allegedly had more than $1,600 cash in his pocket. In Hehir's car, police allegedly found packaging and cutting material, Siciliano wrote.

In 2005, Hehir admitted to sufficient facts on charges he broke into a River Street shed and stole a pocket bike from it in 2004, and Judge Patrick A. Fox ordered him to serve 50 hours of community service and two years of probation, along with a $500 restitution payment, according to court documents.

Hehir was still on probation when a Leominster woman told police he allegedly beat her and threw an iron at her in 2005, but charges were later dropped at the request of the victim, according to court documents.

Police also investigated Hehir in 2005 as a suspect in a Mechanic Street shooting as part of a staged drug deal, in which witnesses said Hehir, then 18, along with co-defendants Marquis Hall and Brandon Aho, set out to rob Jesus Morales, 27, and shot Morales in the shoulder. Morales survived the shooting.

Judge John J. Curran Jr. on Oct. 21, 2005 dismissed the charges against Hehir, who had been held on $250,000 bail on charges of armed assault with intent to murder and carrying a firearm without a license, saying evidence against Hehir was hearsay and there was no probable cause for the charges.

"I allow the defendant's motion to strike testimony presented by the Commonwealth implicating the defendant in the above-referenced matter ... The testimony is hearsay," Curran wrote in a judgment.

Hehir is due in Leominster District Court Dec. 7 for a probable cause hearing on the murder charge.

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